Tinubu to Banks: Rethink risk, drive real economy, not just profits

…CIBN President says stronger indices must improve living standards…Nigeria’s credit bypassing job creators — World Bank…CBN: Recapitalisation reveals depth of local capital By Emma Ujah, Abuja Bureau Chief ABUJA — President Bola Tinubu has challenged Nigerian banks to rethink their approach to risk and play a more active role in driving economic growth and improving the welfare of Nigerians, insisting that strong profits alone are no longer enough. Tinubu spoke at the opening of the 19th Annual Banking and Finance Conference of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) in Abuja on Tuesday. Represented by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, the President urged banks to move beyond celebrating huge profits and shareholder dividends to financing productive sectors of the economy.

He said: “For years, we have measured financial institutions by balance-sheet growth, profitability and shareholder returns. But we must increasingly ask: what is the financial system doing for the real economy? “A resilient banking system cannot exist indefinitely where businesses cannot obtain affordable credit, manufacturers struggle to finance expansion, and millions of productive MSMEs remain outside the formal financial system.

The safest loan on an individual bank’s balance sheet is not necessarily the best allocation of capital for the economy.” Tinubu said the economy had returned to a path of stability, with growing investor confidence, but stressed that macroeconomic stability alone would not guarantee prosperity. He said: “Economic stability has returned. But we must not mistake macroeconomic stability for economic prosperity.

Stability is the foundation; prosperity is the destination. “The current phase of our reform journey is about accelerating the conversion of stability into investment, investment into production, production into jobs, and growth into improved living standards.” The President said the next phase of Nigeria’s development should not merely produce bigger banks with larger balance sheets, but a larger and more productive economy. “Capital must reach ideas, finance must enable enterprise, technology must expand opportunity, risks must be intelligently shared, and…

By Emma Ujah, Abuja Bureau Chief President Bola Tinubu has challenged Nigerian banks to rethink their approach to risk and play a more active role in driving economic growth and improving the welfare of Nigerians, insisting that strong profits alone are no longer enough. The President spoke at the opening of the 19th Annual Banking and Finance Conference of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) in Abuja, yesterday. Taiwo Oyedele, President Tinubu said banks must move beyond celebrating huge profits and shareholder dividends to financing productive sectors of the economy.

President Tinubu added that the banking and financial services industry would be central to achieving that objective…